Latch



April ll, 1939. H. E. VAN vooRHl-:Es

' LATCH Filed Aug. so, 1934 April 11, 1939- H. E VAN vooRHx-:Es2,153,819 LATCH Filed Aug. 30, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 m iff @y 5 April11, 1939.

H. E, VAN VOORHEES LATCH 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 30, 1934 .5 r. l 5o L m d J 5 4 /v 2 Y 5 5 Vrl, v VII@ 8 A .7 4 \\Y rv 7 07%' t.. 3 0 1u 53 7 A 5 n 4 1W 7 I..- I 4 l, II I .I I l Inl I Iw II III 7 ID l d n. LIn .II 0l 7a 7 ..0 www a 4 I 4 6 w m I I. I II:-... II. II k z n. I I va 5 T... ,M Z 0. Z B 4 xm 7 k f I?? v./ Z 4 m .V P7 al t w 5 Q O.. w 7 Jww 0 3.. 2 4. s 2 8 5 7 5 7 2 Q o l I 2 I D H w VQ 3 3 Uw M Z April Il,1939. H. E. VAN vooRHE-Es LATCH l Filed Aug. 50, 1934 4 Sheets-sheet' 4Maf largely been of the pivot lever type in which by Patented Apr. 11,1939 UNITED STATES LATCH Harold E. Van Voorhees, Detroit, Mich.,assigner to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a. corporation oi'Delaware Application August 30, 1934, Serial No. 742,124

s claims. (ci. 292-164) This invention relates to refrigeratingapparatus and more particularly to refrigerator door latches. A

Heretofore, refrigerator door latches have pulling outwardly on thehandle of the lever, the door was opened. When approaching therefrigerator with both hands full of articles to be placed therein,nophand is available to open the door and such a latch cannot readily beoperated without setting down some of the articles. Mechanisms have beenprovided wherein the door latch is operated by a push or pull, but suchmechanisms have not been sufficiently neat, simple and compact fordomestic refrigerators and often have not operated easily enough.

It is an object of my invention to eliminate the need for the settingdown of any of the articles in such a case and to provide an improved,simple and compact, neat and attractive latch mechanism embodylng asimple toggle mechanism actuated by either a light push or pull upon thelatch operating mechanism for opening the door.

It is another object of my invention to provide an improved actuatingmechanism for a door latch which is insulated from but connected to thebolt mechanism and which permits the opening of the door by eitherpushing or pulling but which also permits the proper-closing of the doorby pushing upon a portion of the actuating mechanism.

Further vobjects and advantages of the present invention will beapparent from the following description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present inventionis clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator cabinet having a latchmechanism embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of my latch mechanism taken along the line2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 9 with thelatch in opening position; Fig. 4 is a sectional view along the line 3-3v with the latch in closing position;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2 showing thelatch actuating mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view similar to that shown in Fig. 2 exceptingthat the latch is shown in opening position as actuated by pushing uponthe actuating mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view similar to Figs. 2 and 7 with the exceptionthat the latch is shown in opening position as actuated by pulling uPOnthe actuating mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view somewhat similar to the sections shown inFigs. 2, 'l and 8 but showing the door as being closed by pushing upon aportion of the latch mechanism; and

Fig. 10 is a sectional view along the line of Fig. 2.

, Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. l, there isshown an insulated refrigerator cabinet 20 having an insulated cabinetdoor 2| pivotally supported on the hinges 22 and 23 and provided with arefrigerator door latch 24 for normally holding the door in closed posiu tion.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2 to 10 inclusive, there isshown the refrigerator cabinet door 2i provided with an inner sheetmetal pan portion 25 extending within the door opening 26 of therefrigerator cabinet 20 and an outer sheet metal portion 21 which isconnected to the pan portion 25 by a wooden rectangular frame structureincluding the members 28 and 29. Within the frame structure and betweenthe inner and outer sheet metal members 25 and 21, insulating means 35isv provided for preventing heat leakage. The member 29 of the doorframe structure, together with the outer sheet metal member 21 provide aflange portion 30 for the door which extends over a portion of the outerface of the cabinet surrounding the door opening. This ange portion isprovided with a resilient rubber gasket seal 3l which is fastened to themember 29 by nails as shown, or other suitable means. When the door isin closing position, this rubber gasket seal 30 is compressed from theshape shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 to the shape shown in Fig. 2, so thatair is prevented from passing either into or out of the refrigeratorcabinet through the door 40 opening when the door is closed.

This rubber gasket seal when compressed in this manner also provides aconsiderable force tending to open the door. This, however, is resistedby the latch mechanism 24 which is prorecess or notch 43 provided withinthe wooden frame member 28 of the door 2|. At the inner end of thiscylindrical member 40 is an enlarged portion 44 which encloses a simpletoggle mechanism including a primary link 45 pivoted upon a pin 46extending through the cylindrical member 4U and a secondary link 41connected thereto by a pin 48, The primary link 45 is normally urged ina counter-clockwise direction by a torsion type of coil spring 49 whichis wrapped around the pin 46 and which has a pair of ends 50 bearingupon a connecting web 5| of the primary link 45 and which has itsintermediate looped portion 52 bearing against the rear wall 53 of thecylindrical member 40. This rear wall 53 is formed by a separate piecewhich is held by providing an inner flange at the rear edge of the innerend of the cylindrical member 4U and by bending over the extendingportion over the edges of the member 53 to bind the edges of the member53 against the shoulder formed by the flange.

The secondary lever 41 is connected by a pin 54 to a cylindrical slidemember 55 forming part of the bolt mechanism and which receives thecylindrical bolt 56 or bolt proper which is prevented from being removedfrom the cylindrical member 55 by a ange 51 which is formed by bendingover the outer edges of the cylindrical member 55. The bolt proper 56 isprovided with a kerf which receives a roller 58 held by the pin 59. Thisroller 58 is adapted to rest within the recess 60 formed in the catch 32as shown in Fig. 2 when the door is in closed position.

The bolt proper 66 is also provided with a recess which receives a stiffcompression type coll spring 6| which is held at its opposite end by theclosed end portion of the cylindrical member 55. This provides a stiffresilient connection between the bolt proper 56 and the remainder of thelatch mechanism which permits the forcible closing of the door byslamming the door shut, when the latch is in the normal closed position.This is done by the inclined surface 63 upon the catch 32 upon which theroller 58 rides to its closing position in the recess 601.

The toggle mechanism is controlled and operatecl by an actuating rod orbolt B5 better shown in Fig. 6 which is located within a recess 66extending through the frame portion of the door from the outer facethereof to the recess 43. This bar 65 is provided with a flat side 62for preventing rotation and a notch 61 which forms the inclined camfaces or surfaces 68 and 69. This notch and the cam faces thereofcooperate with a depending portion 1D of the secondary link 41 of thetoggle mechanism to limit the counter-clockwise movement of the primarylink 45 of the toggle mechanism. When this depending portion 1U engagesthe bottom portion of the notch 61, the primary and secondary links 45and 41 of the toggle mechanism are virtually in` alignment with theconnecting pin 46 at or slightly below the center line connecting thepins 46 and 54 as shown in Figs. 4 and 10. This virtually locks thecylindrical slide member 55 of the bolt mechanism and prevents anymovement of the bolt 56 except by compressing the stiff compressionspring 6|. Because of the gradual angle of the incline 63, the forcibleretraction of the bolt 56 may be accomplished against the pressure ofthe stiff compression spring 6| by the normal slanting of therefrigerator door to closing position. This is illustrated in Figs. 4, 9and 10.

'Ihe actuating rod or bar is connected by a loose pin and slotconnection to an insulating member |19 which in turn is connected by atransversely arranged pin connection to a second metal member 1| whichis provided with a shoulder 12 and a threaded end portion 13 whichreceives a button 14 having an enlarged head. The

insulating member |10 with its transversely arranged pin and slotconnections forms a sort of universal joint or connection to accommodatea limited misalignment. Surrounding the button 14 and held in place bythe enlarged head of the button is a gripping member 15 which receivesand is guided by a rectangular boss 16 projecting from the escutcheonplate 11 which is fastened to the door by screws 18. The gripping member15 is resiliently held against the iiange formed by the enlarged head ofthe button 14 by a conical compression type coil spring 19 which extendsbetween the gripping member and a plate 8U which is fastened to the endof the boss 16 and which holds a washer 8| and inner spring 82 whichacts against a shoulder formed by the button in order to normally holdthe button 14 and the members 1|, |10 and 65 in the position shown inFig. 6 so that the depending portion of the secondary link rests in thebottom of the notch 61. The toggle mechanism assumes this lockedposition shown in Figs. 2, 4, 6, 9 and 10 when the door is in closedposition or in the open position and no actuation of either the boltmechanism or the bolt actuating mechanism is performed.

When it is desired to open the door by pushing, the button 14, as wellas the gripping member 15 are pushed inwardly as shown in Fig. 7. Thisbreaks the lock formed by the toggle when in the locking position asshown in Figs. 4 and l0, and moves the toggle mechanism from theposition shown in Figs. 4 and 10 by causing the cam face 68 of the notch61 in the bar 65 to move the depending portion 10 of the secondary link41 upwardly as shown in Fig. 3. Under these conditions the resilientforce exerted upon the door because of the compression of the resilientgasket 3| overcomes the light torsion spring 69 and the entire boltmechanism including the bolt proper 56 and the sliding cylindricalmember 55 is retracted by the cooperation of the inner inclined face 85with the roller 58 to collapse the toggle mechanism to the positionshown in Fig. 3. The movement thus given to the door by the resilientgasket seal 3l is suiicient to retract the bolt mechanism under suchconditions as well as to move the door to open position. In this way,the door may be opened easily by simply bumping the button 14| lightlywith the elbow or any other part of the body.

The door may also be opened by pulling outn wardly upon the grippingmember 15 which in turn pulls out upon the button 14 and the rod or bar65 connected thereto which causes the cam face 69 of the notch 61 tosimilarly force the depending portion 1|) of the secondary lever 41upwardly so that it, together with the remainder of the togglemechanism, assumes the collapsed position shown in Fig. 3 in which thebolt mechanism may be readily retracted by the force of the resilientgasket seal through the cooperation of the inner inclined surface 85upon the catch 32 with the roller 58 of the bolt mechanism. This permitsthe door to open.

However, it should be borne in mind that the force of the resilientgasket seal 3| is insufficient to compress the stiff spring 6|. In orderto close the door, any portion of the door may be grasped to slam thedoor to closed position. The force of the slamming is sufficient tocause the roller 58 to ride over the inclined surface 63 in front of thecatch 32 and retract the bolt 56 proper against the force of the stiilcompression spring 6l in order to permit the door and the bolt mechanismto move into closed position with the roller 58 in the recess of thecatch 32 which holds the door in closed position.

However, provision is also made for closing the door by pressing orpushing upon the gripping member 15 without pushing upon the button 14as shown in Fig. 9. By pushing upon the gripping member 15 withoutpushing upon the button 14, no movement of the bar or rod will takeplace and the door is moved to closed position in a like manner as if ithad been slammed shut by grasping or pushing the door in another place.By using the gripping member to close the door, wear upon the finish ofthe door is avoided.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is asfollows:

1. A latch mechanism including a bolt mechanism, a toggle link mechanismfor operating the bolt mechanism, means cooperating with the toggle linkmechanism for locking the bolt mechanism, means for moving the togglelink mechanism into locking position, one of said means including meansfor unlocking the toggle link mechanism for unlatching the boltmechanism, said bolt mechanism including a movable casing containing abolt and a spring means.

2. A refrigerator latch mechanism including a manipulating mechanism forthe outer face of the door, a bolt mechanism located Within the outerconfines of the cabinet and subjected to the colder temperatures withinthe cabinet, and

an insulating link capable of transmitting force for operativelyconnecting the manipulating mechanism with the bolt mechanism, said linkhaving a loose connection with one of said vmechanisms.l

3. A latching mechanism including a bolt and means for operating thebolt comprising a reciprocable member operable in both directions foroperating the bolt, and a gripping member movable in one direction forengaging and moving said reciprocable member in one direction andmovable in another direction without moving the reciprocable member.

4. A latch mechanism including a bolt mechanism, a toggle link mechanismfor operating the bolt mechanism, means cooperating with the toggle linkmechanism for locking the bolt mechanism, means, for moving the togglelink mechanism into locking position, one of said means including meansfor unlocking the toggle link mechanism for unlatching the boltmechanism, said bolt mechanism including a movable casing containing abolt reciprocably mounted therein and a spring means acting between saidbolt and said movable casing.

5. A latch mechanism including a bolt mechanism, a toggle link mechanismfor operating the bolt mechanism, means cooperating with the toggle linkmechanism for locking the bolt mechanism, means ior movingvthe togglelink mechanism into locking position, one of said means including meansfor unlocking the ytoggle link mechanism for unlatching the boltmechanism, said bolt mechanism including a movable casing containing abolt reciprocably mounted therein and a spring means acting between saidbolt and said movable casing, said movable casing being provided withmeans for retaining a portion of the bolt therein.

6. A latching mechanism including a bolt and means for operating thebolt comprising a reciprocable member operable in both directions foroperating the bolt, and -a reciprocably mounted gripping member movablein one direction for engaging and moving said reciprocable member in onedirection, said gripping member being movable in another direction todisengage itself from the reciprocable member.

7. A latch mechanism including a bolt mechanism, a toggle link mechanismfor operating the bolt mechanism, means cooperating with the toggle linkmechanism for locking and unlock-- ing the bolt mechanism, said meansincluding double acting means movable in opposite directionstransversely to the direction of movement of the toggle link mechanism,for unlocking the bolt mechanism and spring means for moving the togglelink mechanism into locking position.

8. A latch mechanism including a bolt mech- Yanism, a toggle linkmechanism for operating the bolt mechanism, means cooperating with thevtoggle link mechanism for locking and unlock-

